America didn’t give the church its mission

OPINION:

Two hundred fifty years in, Americans will hear much this year about political and economic freedom. Less will be said about a quieter blessing: the constitutional protection of religious freedom and what that freedom is for.

America’s constitutional order protected the free exercise of religion and declined to establish a national church; it did not command the conscience or prescribe worship. Citizens were given broad room to live out their convictions through worship, teaching, giving and service. By God’s providence, that freedom was afforded unusual legal protection.

For Christians, that freedom to serve has a particular purpose. Christ sends his people to proclaim the good news of his life, death and resurrection and to teach all that He commanded. That mission was never the product of national ambition or institutional self-interest. It is driven by Christ’s love for his people and, in response, our love for him.

In love, God sent his Son to redeem a people from every nation, tribe and tongue, that they might worship him freely forever. Those united to the risen Christ no longer live for themselves but for him.

Christ’s love does not merely move his people; it compels them (2 Corinthians 5:14). His love comes first. We love because he first loved us.

This is the animating impulse of Christian service. Service is not the root of our acceptance with God, but its fruit. When Christ’s love grips the heart, lesser motives lose their command, and that love moves outward.

Across generations, Christians have put this freedom to work. They have proclaimed the gospel, taught the Scriptures, published and translated faithful resources, equipped pastors and churches, cared for the sick and poor, and carried the good news of Christ to places they would never call home.

This freedom is shared across America. Each Lord’s Day, congregations gather for worship without seeking the state’s permission. Parents teach their children the faith. Christians give quietly, care for their neighbors and seek to obey God at home, at work and in public life. None of this should be taken for granted.

America did not give the church its mission. Jesus did.

Nor does the gospel depend on American liberty. It has often flourished under persecution, and Jesus Christ will build His church in seasons of freedom and under opposition. Still, we should thank God for the freedom to gather, publish truth, send resources abroad and serve openly.

Church and state have distinct responsibilities, yet both remain under God. The state is not called to preach the gospel or govern the church, and the church is not called to exercise civil power. Keeping those roles distinct was never meant to suggest that the state is independent of God.

For Christians, love must be rightly ordered. We love God first, then our neighbor. Love for family, community and country belongs within that order, but it does not end at our borders.

Dr. R.C. Sproul, who founded the ministry I serve, put it plainly: “The kingdom of God trumps every earthly kingdom. I’m a Christian first, an American second.”

That higher allegiance does not weaken love of country. It orders it. Christians may give thanks for their nation and serve their fellow citizens without ever confusing an earthly nation with the kingdom of God.

No constitution can create the church’s mission or guarantee its success. Yet by God’s kindness, America’s protection of religious freedom has afforded Christians remarkable liberty to serve. That freedom is worth guarding and using well for the good of our neighbors and the glory of God.

• Chris Larson is president and CEO of Ligonier Ministries, the international Christian discipleship organization founded by theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul.